Container with interlocking tray and cover



1963 I J. c. DESPOSITO ETAL 3,116,007

CONTAINER WITH INTERLOCKING TRAY AND COVER 2 Sheep's-Sheet 1 Filed 001?.26, 1962 655671 Carrorzdo 172.2? 711 0 715': Julian 3153;05120 and M?31, 1963 J. c. D'ESPOSITO ETAL 3,115,007

CONTAINER WITH INTEIRLOCKING TRAY AND COVER Filed Oct. 26, 1962 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Julian pf 5390512 0 and GzZZer-Z Q. .Vz jc'a r'ranczaUnited States Patent Ofiice Mldhd? yPatented Dec. 31, 15363 3,116,007CONTAINER WITH INTERLGCKING TRAY AND COVER Julian C. DEsposito,Wilmette, Ill., and Gilbert A.

Vizcarrondo, Fernandina Beach, Fla, assignors to Container Corporationof America, Chicago, IlL, a

corporation of Delaware Filed Get. 26, 1962, Ser. No. 233,317 1 Claim.(Cl. 229-45) This invention relates to paperboard receptacles, and moreparticularly to an improved interlocking tray and cover arrangement fora container.

The invention comprehends a tray and cover connection which isself-contained so as not to require additional fastening means such asstaples, wire, or like devices.

It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide, in a two-piececontainer, self-contained means for removably interlocking a tray andcover in closed condition.

A more specific object of the invention is the provision, in a containertray and cover conection, of an upwardly facing locking flange abutmenton the cover removably engageable with a downwardly facing lockingflange abutment on the tray for detachably locking the former on thelatter.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from anexamination of the following description and drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a containcr tray and coverarrangement embodying features of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a transverse vertical section taken on line 22 of the FIGURE1;

FIGURE 3 is a transverse horizontal section taken on line 33 of FIGURE2;

FIGURE 4 is a longitudinal vertical section taken on line 4-4 of FIGURE1, when the container is in a closed position;

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of the blank from which the structure of theprevious views may be formed; and

FIGURES 6, 7 and 8 are views similar to FIGURES 2, 4 and 5,respectively, butillustrate a modified form of the invention.

It will be understood that, for purposes of clarity, certain elementshave been intentionally omitted from certain views where they arebelieved to be illustrated to better advantage in other views.

Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to FIGURE 1, for abetter understanding of the invention, it will be seen that the novelcontainer embodying features of the invention includes a cover,indicated generally at it), adapted to be telescopically received overthe upper portion of a tray, indicated generally at 12.

Still referring to FIGURE 1 it will be seen that the tray includes abottom wall, not shown, having upstanding therefrom opposing pairs ofside and end walls 14- and 16, respectively, which are hingedly attachedto each other and to the bottom wall to form a tubular structure.

Extending outwardly and downwardly from the upper edges of end walls 16are a pair of locking flanges Ztl which may be formed integrally withthe upper edges of the end walls 16 or which may be formed integrallywith a liner or inner end wall panel, not shown.

Still referring to FIGURE 1, it will be seen that each flange 2t)extends transversely across the container tray substantially the entirelength of the tray end wall and may be provided with a central recess orcutout 22 to form at the ends of the flange a pair of downwardly andoutwardly extending projections 24 which present at their outer edgesdownwardly facing abutment surfaces 26, the function of which isdescribed later in the specification. Referring now to FIGURE 5 of thedrawings, it will be seen that the container cover may be formed from ablank 30 of foldable sheet material, such as paperboard, which includesa generally rectangular center or top wall panel 32 having hingedlyattached to opposite side edges thereof a 7 pair of side wall panels 34,and having hingedly attached to opposite end edges thereof a pair of endwall outer 1 panels 36. Attached to the end edges of each of the coverside wall panels 34 are a pair of corner or connecting panels or flaps38.

Stillreferring to FIGURE 5 of the drawings, it will be seen that thereis hingedly attached to the outer side edges of each of the cover endwall outer panels 36 a locking flange or end wall inner panel 49. Innerpanel 40 is preferably connected to outer panel 36 by means of arelatively thin elongated connecting strip 42 having its opposite sideedges hinged to the respective end wall inner and outer panels.

Each end wall inner panel includes a somewhat triangular shaped centerportion 44- which is formed when the outer free corners of the innerpanel have been cut away, as at 46. At the recessed corner areas, panel46 presents a pair of abutment surfaces 48 which face upwardly, when thecontainer is in erected condition with the cover in place, forengagement with the downwardly facing abutment surfaces 25 on the traylocking flange 20, in a manner best illustrated in FIGURE 4 of the drawrngs.

At its outer extremities the triangular center portion 44 of cover innerend wall panel ND presents an extension or lug 54 adapted to be receivedwithin a complementary slot 52 formed in the cover top wall panel 32, asbest seen in FIGURES 2 and 4, when the container cover is in erectedcondition.

To assemble the cover, side wall panels 34 and end wall outer panels 36are folded down from top panel 32, and the corner flaps 38 are folded atright angles to the side wall panels and positioned between the innerand outer panels of the respective end walls. At this point the end wallinner panels are folded upwardly 180 over the corner flap and intoparallel relation with the end wall outer panels, with the lugs 5d ofthe inner panels being positioned within their related slots 52 of thecenter panel to thereby lock the container cover in erected condition.

In operation, the erected cover is placed over the erected tray of thecontainer and forced downwardly until the upwardly facing abutmentsurfaces of the cover end wall inner panels pass below the plane of thedownwardly facing abutment surfaces of the tray locking flanges. At thispoint the tray locking flanges will tend to flex outwardly while thecover end wall inner panels or locking flanges will tend to flexinwardly toward the center of the container and thereby effect aninterlocking engagement between the abutment surfaces of the tray andcover members of the container.

Although the basic concept of providing a tray and cover lockingarrangement wherein downwardly facing surfaces on a tray engage upwardlyfacing surfaces on a cover is not basically new to the container tart,most of the arrangements known in the art provide this type ofengagement toward the center of the end Walls of the container. However,because of the nautral tendency of paperboard containers to deform, thistype of engagement is not always satisfactory when located in the centerof the end or side Walls of the container because the mating surfacesbecome disengaged. In this arrangement, however, the engagement takesplace at the corners of the container where there is very slight chanceof dimensional change in the overall length of the container, asdistinguished 11ers of the container and will be eficctive regardless ofany deflection in the end walls of either the container tray or thecontainer cover.

in order to facilitate removal of the cover from the tray of thecontainer there may be provided aligned apertures 54 and 56 in the endwall outer panels and corner flaps, respectively, of the cover throughwhich fingers or other objects may be pushed to urge the tray lockingflanges 2i} inwardly so as to disengage the abutting sur faces of thecover and tray and thereby permit removal of the former from the latter.

Turning now to FIGURES 6, 7, and 8 of the drawings, it will be seen thata modified form of the invention is shown. The invention shown in theseviews is substantially identical with that of the previous views exceptfor the fact that in each end wall section a spacer flap til has beencut from portions of the inner and outer panels of the end wall on threesides and hinged on the fourth side along score line 6 2 to one of thetwo end wall panels. The spacer flap 69' could be hinged to either endwall panel, but in the preferred form the flap is hinged to the end wallinner panel as shown in FIGURE 8.

The function of the spacer flap is to provide an additional ply of boardthickness between the inner and outer panels of the end wall, and thisis accomplished by folding the flap 6d over 180 into full faceengagement with the end Wall inner panel before the end Wall inner panelis in turn folded back 180 over on top of the corner ilaps and the endwall outer panel. This additional thickness in the end wall sectionprovides even greater pressure than in the previous arrangement inmaintaining the abutment surfaces of the cover and tray members of thecontainer in locking engagement With each other.

We claim:

A tray and separate, detachable, locking cover arrangement for acontainer comprising:

(a) a tray including a bottom wall and opposed pairs of upstanding sideand end walls hingedly interconnected to form a tubular structure closedat the bottom and open at the top;

(b) said tnay end walls each having hingedly attached to its upper edgea relatively narrow looking flange extending downwardly over the outersurface of an upper portion of the related end wall and beingcoextensive therewith;

(c) each of said locking flanges having a central recess in its loweredge and having on opposite sides of said recess a pair of generallyrectangular, laterally spaced side portions presenting horizontal,co-planar, downwardly facing, abutment surlaces extending from oppositesides of said central recess to the respective ends of said flange;

(d) a separate cover including a top Wall and opposed pairs of dependingside and end walls hingedly interconnected to provide a tubularstructure closed at the top and open at the bottom to telescopicallyreceive an upper portion of said tray;

(e) said cover end walls each including a pair of inner and outer panelshingedly connected at their lower edges and disposed in fiace to 'facerelation;

(7) each of said inner panels having a pair of generally trapezoidalshaped recesses in the upper corners thereof and including:

(i) a wedge-shaped central portion with downwardly diverging side edges;

(ii) a pair of generally rectangular side portions presenting upwardlyfacing abutment surfaces disposed in alignment with correspondingabutment surfaces of a related locking flange for abutin g engagementtherewith to detachably lock the cover on the tray of the container;

(g) the upper part of each cover inner end wall central portion beingreceived within a complementary opening in said top wall to lock saidcover end wall panels in erected position;

(It) the central portion of each cover inner end wall panel between saidside inner end wall panel side portions being no greater in width thanthe width of the central recess of the related locking flange, to permitthe receipt of a portion of said central portion in said central recess,when the cover is in closed position on the tray, and therebyaccommodate the outward flexing of the locking flange side portions tofacilitate the engagement of their abutment surfaces with the relatedabutment surfaces of the cover inner end wall panel side portions.

References tilted in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,373,977 Scherer Apr. 17, 1945 2,412,402 Hoge Dec. 10, 1946 2,559,320Rushing et a1. July 3, 1951 2,777,629 Osteen Jan. 15, 1957 2,902,202Fallert Sept. 1, 1959

